MSI Press Blog

    Recently released: audiobook edition of  Recovering from Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Stalking  by Joanna Romer. Recovering from Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Stalking shares the true stories of women who overcame traumatic personal situations and began new lives. The author provides meaningful analysis on such topics as regaining self-esteem, dealing with fear, and handling remorse. Also included is advice from therapists on how survivors can heal themselves and avoid the pitfalls of becoming entrapped in another abusive relationship. This book is for you if you've been the victim of domestic violence, abuse, or stalking, or if your mother, sister or friend has been victimized. The experiences covered range from verbal abuse to murder. Recovering from Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Stalking is an essential guide for those who have escaped a dangerous situation or are trying to recover from the loss of a loved one due to domestic violence. For more posts about Joanna and her

  As Women's History Month concludes, here are some books that may be of interest; they reflect hope in the aftermath of various kinds of violence against women. They also point out ways that women can manage violence when it appears -- survive it and recover from it. Healing from Incest ( Geri Henderson ) In speaking about Healing from Incest, Susan J. Lewis, Ph.D., J.D., Healing writes: “"Brave, profound, touching, healing. This well-written, honest book takes the reader inside the complexities of the therapeutic healing process from the patient and therapist's unique perspective. It is the story of hard work, hope, commitment and recovery!" Healing from Incest tells the journey of a victim-turned-survivor, working with her therapist to find healing. Readers are pulled into the therapeutic process as Henderson relates her conversations and feelings as a victim of child abuse and Emerton interprets those feelings and describes interventions. For those who recognize t

  Excerpt from Recovering from Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Stalking by Joanna Romer -  My Experience: Lauretta Avina              “I’m a huge believer in counseling, and I never used to be.”   When Lauretta Avina heard that her sister had been murdered by her boyfriend, she couldn’t believe it at first. “I felt disbelief,” she said. “I managed to walk next door to my neighbor’s house. I told him, ‘My sister’s dead!’” Lauretta said her sister, Franca Bars, who was 38 at the time of her death in 2006, had been going with her boyfriend David on and off for seven years. “I only met him once,” Lauretta told me. “He had an angry look. That was two months before the murder.” Despite the angry look, Lauretta said she would never have imagined David capable of murder. “My sister’s exact words were ‘He would never hurt me,’” Lauretta said. “A friend said later he was abusing her. I kick myself in the butt—why didn’t I question her? But my husband had been in Iraq and came home injured; I was

  The following excerpt comes from Recovering from Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Stalking by Joanna Romer. INTRODUCTION   This book is for you if you’ve ever been the victim of domestic violence, abuse or stalking. It’s also for you if your sister, mother or friend has been victimized, as one of the stories in this volume describes. Having escaped a dangerous situation or come to grips with it in some way, you must now start the process of rebuilding your life. Where do you turn? How can you find the “self” you were before the abuse began? Is this even possible? Hopefully, this book will provide some answers to those questions. Included are interviews with women just like you who overcame the reality of domestic violence, stalking or abuse. You will also find advice from therapists to help you sort your life out and put the pieces back together. Domestic abuse these days ranges all the way from being called a slut to hospitalization and even murder (included in this book). In the latt

  Today's back story is about the book, It Only Hurts When I Can't Run  by Gewanda Parker. From the publisher: When Gewanda approached us with her pre-publication manuscript, it was clear that here was a person who had experienced tremendous trauma as a child. That is a story, of course. A sad story. However, what was also clear was her resilience in overcoming that trauma very, very successfully. That was a story worth publishing. An uplifting story. A story that can help others. More important for us as publisher, it fit into a line of such books, the leaders of which were Elizabeth Mahlou's Blest Atheist and Geri Henderson's and Seanne Emerton's Healing from Incest -- and ultimate prompted the commissioned book by Joanna Romer, Recovering from Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Abuse . When it was released, Gewanda's book quickly flew to the top of Amazon's hot new releases lists: #4 Hot New Releases in the child abuse category #8 Hot New Releases in the fam

  ROMAN PILGRIMAGE   I had only one wish on my bucket list—to visit Rome. I lived there as a student nearly fifty years ago, and had never been back. Now was the time. I was excited by the prospect of visiting my old haunts. I wondered what I would discover, not so much about the eternal city, but about myself. How have I changed in those fifty years? The real journey, I realized, was inward. For the most part, I would be alone touring the city for two weeks. I expected the time to be a personal retreat, a spiritual pilgrimage. What it turned out to be was beyond my expectations.   I stayed at an airbnb near the Coliseum, in the center of the old city. Coincidentally, it was around the corner from the Hotel Forum where my mother stayed when visiting. The hotel became my landmark. Everything of interest to me was within walking distance. I had no agenda for each day and did not follow a guidebook. A fellow classmate had given me some suggestions of typical tourist sites, which I used as

Too much holiday food? Gained some weight? Need to move on from overeating in general? New Year's Resolution weighing you down?  Take some advice from Christina Fisanick, author of The Optimistic Food Addict? Ending the Tyranny of Day One:  Stop Starting Over and Start Living Your Life in Recovery by Christina Fisanick “I will start day one again on Monday.”  “I blew it! It’s back to day one tomorrow.”  “I am ready to get back to eating healthy. Day one starts today!” I hear those words often in recovery circles, especially at this time of year when overeating during the holidays and then dieting in the new year are the “norm.” Even people without disordered eating struggle with guilt for eating too many high calories foods and abandoning their exercise routines. However, for people who suffer from an eating disorder (and people for whom dieting is a way of life) continuously starting over and over and over again can actually hamper recovery and overall heal